


What do you think about children?

by eternomadridismo



Category: Star Wars - All Media Types
Genre: Established Relationship, Excessive use of italics, F/F, Fluff, M/M, Multi, Not Beta Read, POV Poe Dameron, Smut but not explicit, hanleia parallels
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-01-16
Updated: 2020-01-16
Packaged: 2021-02-27 16:15:03
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 7,920
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22279999
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/eternomadridismo/pseuds/eternomadridismo
Summary: Poe, Finn and Rey babysat Jacen Syndulla while Hera is on a mission
Relationships: Jessika Pava/Rey, Poe Dameron/Finn
Comments: 2
Kudos: 25





	What do you think about children?

**Author's Note:**

> 1\. AU: Jacen is 5 years old and Hera is about Holdo's age  
> 2\. Mentions of Star Wars Rebels Character  
> 3\. Finn is force sensitive and is learning to be a Jedi from Rey

If you told the Poe Dameron of six months ago that this would be his life, he would applaud you for your naivety. His life up until six months ago was intertwined with war. He’s pretty good at it, even had lots of titles as souvenir; A war **pilot** , **Commander** of the Resistance, then- _unfortunately demoted_ \- **Captain** of the Resistance (kind of his fault), then **acting General** for two seconds, _panics_ , decided he cannot function without his soulmate, Finn, keeping him in check, then immediately appointed that so love of his life slash then-best-friend as **Co-General,** then after brief accusation of favoritism and nepotism; won the war with the final nail in the coffin thanks to his _other_ best friend; now he’s a diplomat slash ‘poster boy’, like Finn often called him.

His routine as a member of the Resistance, albeit repetitive, at least kept his mind sharp. He spent so much of his time worrying about what their enemy would do next that he discovered grey hair by the tender age of 25, and after, became Resistance’s proud expert on the black market, thanks to his mounting supply of smuggled hair dye from Naboo.

After the war though, Poe actually has free time. Like,  _ a lot _ . He could travel anywhere in the galaxy, he could  _ holovid _ his father at any given moment; and best of all, he can do this all with Finn.

He and Finn have a deep understanding between each other despite only knowing each other for two years. Finn often shut down and isolate himself and other Resistance members would not know what to do. Poe  _ does _ , all the time. Poe could tell Finn has guilt issues when he spoiled the inner workings of his old side to The Resistance. Poe has a lot of ghosts from his past as well, so he’s an expert on how to ignore past ghosts. At night, when one of them woke up screaming and sweating from nightmares, the other would hold the other close until morning.

However, Poe just simply cannot say no to Finn. A more sensible man than Poe would admit it’s difficult to **not** _give the world_ to a _naïve, inexperienced_ former disposable soldier, with the biggest heart and _sexiest smolder_ in the galaxy- he might add.

_ Oh _ , and of course the sex is  _ epic _ .  _ Twelve out of ten _ . Since they got together, Poe gave up on black hair dye because his man has a thing for  _ grey hair streaks _ .

When a disgruntled Poe looked like he should blow off some steam, -  _ which is  _ **_most of the time_ ** \- Finn would unceremoniously drag him to the nearest closet for a bit, uh,  _ reconditioning _ .

It could not possibly get any better, then Finn started to learn the ways of the Force with Rey. Hence, Poe concluded that the only thing  _ sexier _ than Finn in leather jackets, is Finn in Jedi robes. Poe remembered he almost pounced at Finn whilst the poor guy first modeled the robe in their shared room.

_ Stars _ , Poe is a lucky man.

Despite spending more time on air than on land, or so a poutful Finn likes to remind him; Poe still has no (civilian) ship of his own. The thing is, his agenda these days are often packed with diplomatic meetings. Sometimes Chewie and Lando let him borrow the Millennium Falcon, but on times the Falcon were unavailable, Poe would gladly take his X-Wing despite a) it being a war transport, and b) the war ended six months ago.

Unsurprisingly, his X-Wing became the hit punchline between Resistance members and probably the whole galaxy. On diplomatic missions, some diplomats prefer speeders, others, modification of the old Republic Cruiser; but if you see a battle-worn X-Wing parked on a landing pad, that's Poe alright. 

Admittedly, the downside of X-Wing is that it can only seat one person and one astromech droid. Not that Poe never tried to coddle an irritated Finn into his lap, which failed miserably because obviously it wasn’t built to seat two. He remembered the occasion being less  _ sexy _ and more of a definite  _ fail _ . Subconsciously Poe realized he needed a proper ship- but Poe is a your ordinary  _ hopeless romantic, _ who wants to surprise his significant other in the most  _ extravagant _ way possible, such as a ship of their own.  _ Soon _ , he thought.

As a child, Poe’s favorite bedtime stories were stories involving his parents’ adventures. Having been brought up as the child of two Rebellion heroes- one of which an A-Wing Pilot-; made it rare for him to see both his parents at the same time. Luckily, they took turns during missions so that Poe would not be left alone. Their stories though, gave Poe handful number of childhood idols. Notably pilots. There was his mother, Shara Bey, Han Solo, Wedge Antilles, who became one of his favorite teachers; also Lando Calrissian and Chewbacca, who are so kind to let him and Finn use the Millenium Falcon whenever they asked.

His favorite among them all was Hera Syndulla, The legendary Captain and leader of The Ghost Crew. Hera Syndulla and Poe’s mother, Shara were friends during the war. Hera actually assembled Poe a toy Ghost using scraps from the ship after Shara told her Poe wants to be a pilot when he grows up. Hera was also the first person who taught Poe about The Force. Hera always spoke highly about the force despite not being a force-sensitive or force practitioner. She was Poe's idol growing up.

Hera had many first hand encounters with the force through her crew's co-leader and lover, then a padawan called Caleb Dume, survivor from Order 66. Caleb disguised his name as Kanan Jarrus to avoid being hunted down and died in a rescue mission for Hera. They were a legendary power couple.  **_The jedi and the pilot_ ** . Hey, Poe admits that he has many superstitions, but really, the parallels between  _ Kanera _ to him and Finn is uncanny.

Hera and Kanan has a son, a toddler called Jacen Syndulla who, similar to toddler Poe, does not see much of his mother. The thing is, even after they won the war, the mission doesn’t stop. Even Hera, now a high-ranking Captain in the Resistance, cannot escape the call for missions’ planets away. This time, Hera had to accompany Ahsoka Tano on a mission in the outer rim. A mission in an uncharted territory, unsafe for children.-

-Which brought Poe to this moment. To everyone's surprise, Hera contacted Poe who excitedly agreed on babysitting Jacen. Naturally, Hera explained how taking care of a child, a half twi'lek plus force sensitive child at that, is no easy feat. Really, It should be taken to some account how much Hera has faith in him, not with how much shenanigans Poe has been involved- to let him babysit her son. Sure she had other options before Poe, luckily none were available, which made Poe huffed his chest proudly because hey! He was not the **first** (Sabine, unavailable)- nor **second** option (Zeb and Kallus; also, unavailable)- but he was the **third** option!

Meanwhile, Finn has only begun his force training with Rey, and therefore, he has a full schedule during the day.  _ Meditate, Jedi practice, repeat _ . Finn can go as far as sending small rocks on top of each other now. He kept complaining on how boring it was and how he craves real action; like building his own lightsaber for instance. Rey told him  _ one _ , he's not ready,  _ two _ , he has to find/forge his own kyber crystal. Anyway, Rey's too busy saving the galaxy to accompany him on a long trip. Plus, kyber crystals are rare and hard to find these days because Kylo Ren spent whole lot of it when he built the second Deathstar.

Finn's Jedi training during the day only left Poe little to do in his spare time. Listen, Poe loves The Millenium falcon, okay. It's a legendary ship and he always dreamed of flying it. But there is so little to do other than repair the machine, talk to bb8, play holochess, or watch Finn meditate. Admittedly, he always clap excitedly whenever Finn managed to lift a slightly  _ bigger rock _ on top of each other, but Rey calls Poe a  **_distraction_ ** because then Finn can't concentrate when he's around. 

It's either, "Guys. Stop making out. Please respect the force" or if it doesn't work, blatantly pulling the old  _ Jedi mind trick  _ on them, often around "You two are  **not** attached at the hip.", or "Poe, you have somewhere to be." So yeah, Poe's only allowed to watch for three minutes before being shushed out by an exasperated Rey.

Which is why  _ maybe _ babysitting a toddler is the new activity Poe needs. But first Poe had to tell Finn. The thing about Poe, is that he could brief a room full of a thousand resistance members without mind, but when talking to Finn, he needs to plan it carefully. 

Which is why it was a bright evening when they're holding hands in the sunset, drink cups on hand, when he brought it up. 

"Buddy. You would not believe what I planned for  _ us _ on our day off."

Finn looked up suspiciously from his cup. Poe's habit to give everyone nicknames seems to rub off on Finn because instead of terms of endearment Finn likes to invent new nicknames for his boy.

"Okay, hotshot.  _ Where _ do you have in mind?"

Poe shrugged as if to give a surprise. "It does not involve flying?", and then to put Finn out of his misery because his boy had had a long day, Poe blurted out, "What do you think about children?"

Yeah, he might have phrased it wrong because Finn visibly tensed and his eyebrow now shot up to his hairline. Poe felt his cheeks burning. "Shit, I don't mean it like  _ that _ ."

Okay,  _ a lie _ . Poe definitely think about his and Finn's possible future child too often. What they would look like, what flavor of ice cream would they like, whether they prefer A Wing or X Wing, you know,  _ usual _ things.

Poe, _ now is not the time _ .

"Poe. When was the last time you interacted with a child", Finn massaged a non existent crease between his eyebrows. Poe  _ really _ wants to reach out to it.

No,  _ Poe, focus _ .

"... Yes I have", he said weakly.

Finn crossed his arms and stared at Poe like he was a mildly interesting holo-show. "Okay, what was their name."

Poe fidgeted in his seat and blurted. "Doe… Pameron?", and then as an added inspiration, "Does BB-8 count?"

Finn stared at him fondly before laughing and kissing his cheek. "Poe. I don't know much about children but I know enough that  _ this- _ " he gestured the ship, with many wrenches lying on the floor, many oil spill left unmopped, walls covered with rust- 

"-Is definitely,  **not** a safe environment for children.", he continued. "I suggest we clean it up."

Poe looked at Finn like he suggested to move back to Jakku.

* * *

So that is how Finn managed to persuade Rey to postpone their practice for two days. She has even more in-demand occasions than both former Resistance Co-Generals combined anyway, though she secretly confided Finn that it does get frustrating to be the only Jedi master left in the Galaxy, and she prefers Finn and Poe's company than empty diplomatics.

They spent the day blasting Yavin music on the radio, swipe the five centimeters of dust collecting on the Millenium Falcon, scrub the walls clean, not to mention throwing away loads of Chewbacca's fur from the floor. It's safe to say the ship hasn't undergone cleaning since Lando owned it. Poe giggled for a good fifteen minutes when he found an old photograph of Han with a mustache, and has to leave the room to stop laughing. BB8 followed his master, beeping all bemused on why Poe kicked himself out of the room.

Rose walked in with C3PO at one point and muttered how she had suggested to clean The Falcon for  _ ages _ but everyone kept postponing it. Rose was too busy to hang around though, and merely helped by pointing at spots Finn might've missed or handing Poe correct wrenches to tighten loose bolts. C3PO of course babbled about how he's a  **protocol droid** , and therefore refused to help with the cleaning since it's "not within his protocol.".

At brunch, Rey came with a bunch of new cushions she bought on the way home from faraway planets. Poe and Rey then bickered on how they should decorate the place. Poe argued that because he borrowed the ship from Chewie it's up to him, Rey said she bought the pillow therefore had the right. They looked at Finn for the final decision, and at the end Finn placed the pillows based on his idea on what he calls 'force-sensitive toddler- baby proofing'.

That night, everyone turned in early to bed. All of them were exhausted but with fresh appreciation for cleaning droids.

As usual, Poe does his usual bedtime routine. Hygiene check, plug BB8 to the power socket, then climb in bed earlier than Finn only to watch him meditate. Poe found the activity quite relaxing because even in the low light, he could map out Finn's facial and body features before sleeping. He thinks about painting them one day. Somehow, Finn being the last thing Poe saw everyday helped reduce nightmares about the war.

Poe was almost taken away by sleep when suddenly Finn's voice broke the silence.

"You still awake,  _ Star pilot _ ?'

Poe sleepily hummed from his stomach while his left hand reached out for Finn. He then felt his mattress lowered by a pleasant familiar weight and the feeling of someone rolling over to face him.

Finn reached out to link their hands together and gave a soft peck to Poe's palms.

"When you asked earlier, about children-", Finn began. Shit, is it too late to pretend Poe's already asleep?

"- Have you ever met Jacen yet?"

Well,  _ phew _ . 

Poe nodded sleepily. He met Jacen the day he was born, a small bundle of blankets with unruly amount of green hair on his head. Jacen was born during the brink of war, in Lothal planet, where Hera and her crew were based. Poe hasn't meet Hera nor Jacen since then, but he sends Jacen a gift every year on his birthday. Even though Jacen grew up without his father, Hera's little crew was a close knit family. Jacen showed force sensitive traits early on and Hera proudly told Poe how one of her crew (who she treated like her first born), Ezra Bridger, was Kanan's padawan, helped little Jacen with his force training. They often disappeared for days only to meditate on Jedi temples. Poe told Finn as such. And  _ yes _ , Finn, Jacen is potty trained.

He noticed how Finn's eye glowed brighter at the mention of Kanan, Ezra, and the force. Poe couldn't resist pinching Finn's cheek. Finn scowled.

"Ouch! What was that for?",

Poe giggled and answered, "Nothing. You look cute when you're thinking." and yawned.

"I love you, Finn."

Finn rolled his eyes fondly.

"Love you too,  _ baby _ ."

Poe felt his consciousness level falling and he stumbled into a pleasant dream involving him, Finn, and a faceless Force-sensitive baby playing with a toy x-wing.

* * *

The next day, Poe woke up to Finn's morning husky-voice and a kiss to his forehead.

"Wake up, hotshot."

Poe slowly opened his eyes, adjusting to the level of sunlight.  _ Ugh _ , can someone tune it down, please?

He heard Finn's familiar laugh somewhere over his head.

"Sure, I'll just tell the sun to fuck off somewhere else. All for you, buddy."

_ Ah _ . So that was not inside his head.

The room swam to view. Poe is _suddenly_ **very** **awake** once he realized Finn stole one of his leather jackets again.

"Good morning there yourself,  _ hotshot _ .", Poe said as he surveyed Finn up and down appreciatively. Finn smiled all the way across the room and threw him a towel. 

"Alright,  _ flyboy _ . I love how excited you are about clothes. Oh, Dash and go, I made you breakfast."

Poe stretched and let out his biggest yawn of the day. Suddenly a loud beep filled the room and BB8 rolled in to hit Poe's bed leg repetitively as to hurry him up. 

"Yes buddy! I'm coming, I'm coming!"

Finn's laughter and BB8's ascending beep faded as he more or less sprinted to the bathroom.

Finn waited in their room while Poe took a shower. He was folding blankets by the time Poe was done, apparently deep in conversation with BB8.

"- Look how messy your master is, Bee-bee.", Finn mumbled to BB8, who wheezed excitedly. " _ Yes _ , tell me about it", Finn shook his head and clicked his tongue. He then threw the tidy pile onto bed lazily.

They didn't realize Poe was done and that he was looking lovingly at the scene set before him. Poe hugged Finn from behind, skin still wet from the shower. Finn gave a small yelp of surprise but BB8 downright rolled away in shock and hid under their bedside table.

"Oh? That's how it's going to be now? You two ganging up on me?", Poe gave a dramatic pout while his arms circled around Finn's waist. He devoured Finn's neck and anywhere else he could reach. Finn laughed and rolled them both over to the bed.  _ Again _ .

By the time they got out of their room, Finn's breakfast for Poe had gone cold.

"Wow, good, you two are not dead.", Rey said with a straight face. She was already reading a large volume of an ancient Jedi text so early in the morning. "We can quit the search now, guys!", she dryly joked to the empty Falcon.

Poe exclaimed in a sing-along voice, "Ha ha.  _ Not even sorry, _ " and grabbed his spoon. He then grabbed his spot in the round table and started on his breakfast.

On the contrary, Finn politely apologized that they took forever to get ready. Rey waved him off. "It's fine, Finn. I was too scarred to knock on your door. Force knows I can't afford therapy right now". 

Poe joyfully laughed in the distance and Finn felt his face got warmer.

" So what do you guys plan for today?", Rey asked after a while.

"We are babysitting Hera Syndulla's child today!", Finn announced excitedly. 

The room suddenly got quiet. Rey rotated in her chair. 

"Hera Syndulla as in  _ Captain Hera _ of the Rebellion? The one who lives in Lothal?", she asked aggressively, eyes bulging all excited.

Finn and Poe looked at each other and then at Rey.

"Yeah? What, you  _ know _ her or something?", Finn asked.

Rey looked as if she had smoke coming out of her ears. " _ Know _ her? I  **worshipped** her!".

Finn and Poe looked at Rey amusedly. It was rare to see her excited over something since they lost General Leia.

"So that's  _ my _ plan out of the window,", Rey muttered. She looked at her hands as to count her plans. "I'm joining you guys today.", she clapped excitedly.

"You heard us when we said we're babysitting her  _ kid _ , right? Not the mother?", Poe jested.

Rey looked at Poe disdainfully like he was a Hutt. She waved him off stubbornly. "Yes,  _ Dameron _ . Her son is supposed to be force sensitive right? Maybe we could  _ connect _ , or whatever."

Poe snorted. "Her son is  **five years old.** And from what I gathered, has his own band of Jedi Masters."

"Whatever, Dameron. The more the merrier right?", Rey chimed.

"-How did you know he's force sensitive?", Finn butted in.

Rey proudly puffed her chest out. "You hear  **many** things, once you're  _ one with the force _ . Someday I'll teach you, my young Padawan."

It was Finn's turn to snort.

Rey explained that The Force connected beings together, past and present. Some can felt close even if they're physically planets away; and others felt far even if they're a mere distance away. But once you passed on or completed your Force training, then you are more connected than ever to any force-sensitive beings who reached out.

She mentioned that through the Force, she once heard Hera's lover and Jacen's father Kanan Jarrus during the battle of Exegol. He called out to her, fired her up, not letting her gave up. 

Then as a realization, she added, "-But  _ why _ did Hera asked you two? You two might be the  **least competent** beings in the galaxy? Did every adult contracted incurable diseases or what?", she remarked.

Poe smirked. "True. Then again, we were **two** **incompetent** **_co-Generals_** at that. Oh, and we sort of _outrank_ her, right, babe?,", He peered at Finn like to get him on the joke but Finn only looked alarmed and signaled at Rey's dangerously dilating pupils.

Poe tilted back his seat and immediately apologized. "Sorry, only joking. It's because I'm her favorite nephew,  _ duh _ .", as if it's the most obvious thing in the world.

He further explained because Rey looked puzzled, "My mother was one of her closest friend and confidant, and she was like my aunt when I grew up."

"Ah, what a nice thing,  _ nepotism _ .", Finn joked dryly. Poe slapped his ass playfully.

To stop them from having their usual impromptu make-out session, Rey then bombarded Poe with more questions. About Hera, her crew, Jacen's Jedi Masters, and many things. When Poe mentioned Ahsoka, Rey yelped and had to do Jedi breathing exercise to relax. She explained how before he became Vader, Luke and Leia's father was Ahsoka Tano's Jedi Master. She informed them with an eye-roll how it was R2 who gossiped. 

"Rey, do you have any experience with a child?", Finn asked once she calmed down.

" **Yes** , on a  _ daily _ basis. With you two,", she answered as she quietly finished her morning drink.

* * *

Then the three of them bickered on who should wash the dishes and decided to do three rounds of coin toss. Poe lost and he was surprisingly such a good sport about it.

The usually packed Millenium Falcon felt quiet and empty that day, not with only three of them plus BB8 on board. C3PO had accompanied Rose Tico on to a mechanical engineering class, in order to help communicate with the machines. R2D2 was borrowed by Lando Calrissian and Chewbacca to visit Bespin. Jessika Pava had said her goodbye to visit her home planet Donderan immediately after the war and has not come back since. Rey actually visited her every two weeks, the last time being a week ago.

The three of them were playing holo-chess lazily (Poe was basically on Finn's lap the whole time) by the time Millenium Falcon's door rolled up. With a smooth  _ whoosh _ , the legendary Hera Syndulla walked in with a green-haired toddler in tow and a giant bag on the other. Outside wind might've breezed inside the room dramatically, and the three of them immediately admitted silently how Hera has an almost similar aura to Leia. 

Rey could barely hide her giddiness and immediately stood up, bumped her kneecaps to the holochess table in result. Adrenaline might've concealed the physical hurt because she paraded forward confidently. Hera towered over her about twenty centimeters and Rey looked up to her with respect.

"Captain Syndulla, I'm Rey,-" , she said breathlessly. She extended her hand for a handshake. "An honor, I've always been a huge fan.", she stuttered.

Hera smiled warmly, "Likewise. I've always wanted to meet The _Jedi_ _knight_ who ended the war!", she shook Rey's (now sweaty) hand. Rey blushed.

Poe shook chuckled disbelievingly at Rey's antics.

"Aunt Hera.", Poe called out with a grin. He gave her a bear hug. Hera beamed and ruffled his hair. Poe high fived little Jacen.

"Hi little man! I'm Poe Dameron!"

Jacen gave a shy smile. Poe noticed his two front teeth were missing, making him look more adorable than ever. He quietly waved his hands at Poe and whispered his name politely.

Hera shook her head fondly at the interaction. "He's not usually this shy. He could not shut up talking about you three on the way here!  **War heroes** !", she beamed.

Poe laughed. He looked around Finn.

"Ah, pardon my impoliteness. This is Finn. He is force sensitive.", Poe beamed proudly.

Finn gave an unimpressed sigh. "Force sake, Poe, you don't have to introduce me like that to everybody.". He shook his hands politely to Hera and Jacen, "Hi, I'm Finn."

"Good to meet you **General** **Finn** , I'm Hera. Hera Syndulla.", to Finn's surprise, Hera also enveloped him in a bear hug. By the time Finn resurfaced, he had a shy grin on his face.

"Just- just  _ Finn _ is fine.", he stuttered.

Hera smiled agreeingly at Poe. "He is indeed, as  _ charming _ as you told me." 

Poe looked smug. He rubbed the small of Finn's back affectionately. 

Starstrucked Rey, who had been quiet during this whole interaction rolled her eyes. "You two are so disgustingly in love it makes me want to vomit.", she shook her head. She then took Jacen's hands, "Come, Jacen, I'll give you a tour around The Falcon". 

Poe wrinkled his nose and called after her, "You're just jealous Jess isn't here!".

Finn kissed Poe's cheek. "I better go after them, I'll leave you two to catch up, okay?".

And with a last grin towards Hera, he followed Rey and Jacen.

Looking at their retreating figures, Hera sat down. She looked seriously into Poe's eyes. "Poe. How are you? How have you been holding up?".

Poe's smile faltered for the first time that day. Even since he was a boy, Hera always had the ability to make him vent. It's her kind eyes and non-judgemental composure.. or maybe just a Twi'lek thing.

"Sometimes-", his voice cracked. "It's hard to keep strong..",

And Poe blabbed. and blabbed.

He spoke on how he regret being careless. How he regret underestimating the First Order. How he took risks he should've ignored. How by being the General, he felt responsible for their losses. Especially after the memorial. They had read the list of names, and after every name, he felt a knot in his stomach. How he missed Leia. His mother. Luke Skywalker. Han Solo. His friend Snap Wexley. 

How laser gun and explosives sound still haunt him at night. How he saw Snap's X-Wing fell down. Heard his scream as he went down. Poe broke down in tears. 

Hera held his shoulder. "You've done much for this galaxy, Poe. Please don't diminish your role in returning its peace."

"Even when you were a boy you were always eager to fix everything. Even some things bigger than you. You need to understand that some forces are outside all of our control.", she added. Poe felt scrutinized under her gaze.

Hera continued, "Have you ever considered telling Finn what you told me?"

Poe shook his head. "Finn has enough ghosts of his own. I'm trying my best to keep them at bay. I won't give more of my burden to him."

Hera smiled sadly.

"You reminded me of Kanan. He also thought I can't handle his demons and decided to hide them for me for so long. Finn is stronger than you think. You don't have to fight everything on your own, Poe."

Poe was still unconvinced. He admitted to Hera that in order to open up to Finn, he had to bring up shady things from his past that could make Finn be afraid, or worse, he could lose Finn entirely. He would delay the possibility for as long as he could. He simply was not ready for that conversation. Not  _ yet _ .

Hera listened intently. Poe knows that even though he never talked about his dark days to Hera, there were  _ talks _ .  _ Whispers _ about him. Why he ran away from home. Why he periodically went missing during his days on the New Republic Defense Fleet. His infiltration with Zorii Bliss' Spice Runners of Kijimi. His failure that leads to the death of one member of the group. He was just glad that Hera never treats him differently despite all the things he had done.

"I know you, Poe. And I've seen you grew for 34 years. Also, I have seen how Finn looks at you-," she beamed. "That boy is clearly in love."

Poe twirled a loose thread on his jacket unconsciously. "I know. Me too. That's why I don't  **ever** want to let him down.", he said quietly.

Hera pats his head. "You're a good man, Poe. Don't  _ ever _ doubt that.", she concluded. She glanced at her watch and stand up. "Well. I promised Ahsoka this would only take a while. I better leave now.", she said as she helped Poe stand up as well.

Poe gave her a bear hug. As an afterthought, he slapped his forehead, "Oh, I almost forgot to ask. How's Chopper? Your crew? All ok?".

Hera smiled. "Always so considerate. Yes everyone is ok, thanks for asking, Poe. I'll tell everyone you said hi.", added Hera before Poe opened his mouth. Poe laughed. He was always not the one for casual courtesy. The war took it from him.

"I'll pick up Jacen in about 12 hours, alright?", she reminded Poe sternly. Poe gave a mock salute. "Yes, Sir. Captain.". Hera playfully ruffled his hair again. Poe watched her walk towards the door.

And with a last wave, she jumped out and disappeared.

Poe sighed at her retreating figure.

After then it hit him that he did not ask Hera for guidelines nor direction on how to babysit Jacen.  _ Shit _ .

He looked around for Hera's bag that she came in with. It must come with some instructions,  _ right _ ?

He spotted the bag underneath one of the chairs. 

He unzipped and rummaged the bag clumsily. There were no manuals, no writing. Only spare clothes, snacks, what looked like diapers, and a toy Lasat which looked sewn by hand.

Poe sighed.

Guess he'll have to do what he does best.  _ Improvise _ .

* * *

He then decided to carry the bag and look around to where the hell Rey, Finn and Jacen went to. He peered his head on each room through the corridor before finding them all on Rey's room. And they were on the floor,  _ meditating _ . 

Poe did not know what to expect but the sight of a mere toddler meditating is  _ hilarious _ . 

And then, as if he sensed Poe's presence, Finn opened his eyes and rotated from the floor to the door direction. Poe waved weakly and gave him a thumbs up from the door. Finn rolled his eyes but got up anyway. He closed the door quietly behind him while he grabbed Poe's arm to the spotless corridor.

Finn pointed at the large bag on Poe's shoulder. "Where were you going? Why are you carrying a large bag?"

Poe suddenly realized how heavy it was. He placed it on the floor beside him. "I dunno, Hera left this, it's full of Jacen's stuff.", he shrugged. "I figured he might need it, or whatever."

Poe then lowered his voice to a whisper, "I didn't know kids do  _ that _ . It's so  _ bizzare _ .", he pointed at the door and giggled quietly.

Finn crossed his arms, unimpressed. "You mean,  _ meditate _ ?"

"Yeah, meditate, whatever.", Poe shrugged.

Finn massaged his temples as if he was patiently explaining to a toddler, "Well, that's what force-sensitive children do, Poe. They had to reach out to the Force  _ somehow _ ."

Poe waved his hands impatiently, "Yeah, I know, I know. I've never met a force-sensitive child before though.", he mumbled, "Well, I should take this as an early lesson for when we have force-sensitive  _ babies _ .."

Poe only realized the weight of his words once he looked at Finn's shocked expression. And he had said  _ babies.  _ As in plural.  _ Whoops _ .

"What-"

"What?", Poe said, in an octave higher than usual.

Suddenly Rey's familiar voice emerged. Poe is silently thanking the heavens above for this  **necessary** interruption.

"Guys, Jacen here hasn't eaten since he left from Lothal five hours ago. Do we have any food in the fridge?", she rested her hands on her waist. She seemed to sense tension radiating from the situation between Poe and Finn. She was about to open her mouth in question when Poe decided to take matters to his own hands and cut off that train of thought.

Poe cleared his throat, "Sure, buddy, what are you in the mood for?", he said as he crouched to Jacen's level.

Jacen looked up to Poe shyly. "Anything, really.."

Poe tried to remember the inside of the fridge this morning. He thought for a moment, "We have enough materials for some Canto-Bight special meiloorun pancake.. What do you say?"

Jacen's eyes immediately lit up. He nodded excitedly.

Poe smiled. He then grabbed a hold of Jacen's hands and set to the kitchen.

Finn looked lovingly at the scene before him. Then he saw Poe forgot Hera's giant bag.  **Nope** , he will not carry  _ that _ .

Finn called out to Poe, "Poe, you forgot Hera's bag!", but Poe and Jacen had already disappeared to a corner. Finn glanced at Rey beside him, who rolled her eyes.

Wordlessly, Rey closed her eyes and raised her arms slowly. The heavy bag then began to levitate in the air.

"Lesson  **twenty-three** . Size matters not, my young Padawan.", she smirked.

Finn muttered, "Show off-". Then he figured he'll annoy Rey, "That definitely is  **not** what Poe said last night..", he chimed.

The bag plummeted down.

* * *

When Finn and Rey got to the kitchen, Poe was mixing milk and vinegar while Jacen sat in the bar stool opposite him. They were deep in conversation. Poe seemed excited to have an audience for once and is acting like he's on a cooking show. Jacen acted both as his assistant and audience. 

"... And then, you whisk the dry ingredients together like this.. Whisk the egg, milk, and melted butter into the dry ingredients until  _ just _ combined", Poe said. In typical Poe fashion, he was afraid to get his clothes dirty so he angled his body away from the ingredients.

"Hold on, Jacen, I'm gonna heat the pan now.", he said. Jacen dutifully goes back on his seat.

Finn walked over behind Poe and kissed his cheek, "Look at you.", he beamed proudly. "And Rey thought we were useless when it comes to children!", he whispered breathlessly.

"I heard that!", they heard Rey rather timidly, her bun poking out somewhere under the cabinet, probably looking for clean plates.

Poe smirked, "Hey Finn, do you want to do the honors of pouring the batters into the skillet?", he kissed his cheek in exchange. Finn giggled and poured it precisely ⅓ cup of batter. Jacen scrunched his face.

"Jacen, you can arrange the meiloorun on top.", Poe announced.

Jacen jumped from his seat gleefully. Once he reached behind the counter, he couldn't reach the top table. Finn then decided to give him a lift by his tiny waist.

Jacen scattered the meiloorun and made a smiley face. He grinned at his finished handiwork.

"Adorable.", Poe said while looking at Finn the whole time. He can't help but being corny when Finn is smiling like  **that** .

Finn definitely felt Poe's stare. He felt the sides of his face burning. He resisted the temptation of taking Poe right then and there by clearing his throat.

"I'll get this to the table.", he mumbled hoarsely. He still feels Poe's eyes boring into the back of his head.

Poe stretched and yawned behind them. "I'm gonna go piss.", he winked at Finn. Rey eyed them suspiciously from the table. "Dameron, don't be gross.", she grimaced. Finn shrugged his shoulder and mumbled an "I'm sorry" to Rey, before he followed Poe to the bathroom.

"Where are they going, Rey?", he heard Jacen asked.

"Kid, trust me.  _ We _ don't want to know.", she sighed dramatically.

* * *

Poe waited for Finn in the bathroom as promised. He sat down on top of the basin counter lazily, feet dangling. He didn't have to wait long because the door opened immediately with a thud.

"I can't believe you did that.", Finn shook his head and closed the door behind him.

Poe raised his eyebrows, "Me? You were an accomplice too, buddy.", he gasped dramatically.

Finn locked the door. He eyed Poe up and down appreciatively before biting his lips. 

"Stop looking at me like that. I'm gonna wet my pants.", Poe warned.

Finn laughed. "Oh  _ really _ ?", he looked straight into Poe's brown eyes. "Is this seat taken?", he pointed at Poe's crotch teasingly.

Poe's throat suddenly felt dry.

"You know it's yours.", he whispered.

Finn laughed again. Poe thinks it's the sweetest sound.

"You know, I can't stand your flirting techniques back in the kitchen.", Finn pointed at the door behind him, trying to look serious.

Poe crossed his arms and smirked, "Can't  **stand** , huh? Sit on my face, then...", he teased.

Finn rolled his eyes and snorted. He walked in-between Poe's thigh and started kissing his neck. Poe blindly untucked the bottom of Finn's shirt and placed his hands on the naked skin. Finn groaned and began to remove his shirt hastily. Poe followed him suit. He removed his jacket carefully and placed it beside him on the dry counter. Finn chuckled and helped unbutton Poe's shirt while he continued sucking on Poe's neck. Poe then put his hands on Finn's chest while he chased his mouth. He grabbed Finn's arms and put it over his shoulder.

"Are you going somewhere with that?.", Poe moaned, drunk on the taste of Finn's mouth.

Finn put his hands on Poe's hair and started tugging on the thick strands. He was visibly confused.

"With what?", he murmured.

Poe smirked, Finn felt it against his mouth. "... My heart"

Finn snorted. "God, Poe, you're so corny.", He stood back on his heel and laughed. Poe noticed how his pupils almost swallowed the brown iris whole.

Finn's laugh is contagious. "Are you done? I kinda have a pressing matter at hand here!", Poe said through the laughter. He pointed at his crotch, which only made Finn laugh even more.

"It's your fault for being ridiculous!", Finn shook his head, still shaking from laughter.

With a grin, Poe grabbed Finn's chin and pressed their lips together. Finn obliged, even though they're basically smiling against each other. Poe rested his forehead on Finn's and laced their hands together.

Poe sighed. "You're adorable. Has anyone ever told you, you have really nice hands?", he kissed Finn's palm.

Then another corny idea washed upon him. "You know what would look real nice?"

"-Poe, don't."

"... When they're wrapped around this  _ dick _ ", Poe said through a muffled mouth, because Finn covered them with his hands.

"Force's sake.", Finn said exasperatedly. Poe laughed out loud.

* * *

They returned sated and satisfied to the kitchen twenty minutes later, only to find neither Rey nor Jacen. They were left 2 plates of Poe's Meiloorun pancakes which have since gone cold. They definitely didn't fight on who got the bigger slice (they did).

At least Poe was content at how his impromptu recipe turned out.

Suddenly with a beep, BB8 slide in the room. He beeped dismissively for being left out in Poe and Finn's room. He rolled around excitedly, probably for being overcharged.

Poe immediately left his seat and crouched to BB8's height. "Buddy! We've missed you today!". He patted BB8's surface affectionately.

"Have you seen Rey anywhere?", Finn asked BB8 with his mouth still full from the pancake.

"She's playing cards? With Jacen?", Poe asked BB8. BB8 did not know of Jacen, but he mentioned a 'Green' small human which had to be him.

Finn snorted. "That sounds like Rey, alright. Teaching a minor to play a smuggler's game-"

BB8 beeped in Rey's defense.

"Jacen's  _ winning _ ?", Poe looked as if High Day holiday had come early. Even when Poe and Finn teamed up against her she rarely lost. Even Lando had to admit she's one hell of a card player, went as far as taking her numerous times during his casino travels.

They hurried off to finish their pancakes and raced to the main room.

When they got to the main room, they were welcomed with a rare sight of frustrated Rey; hairs falling out of her bun, hands on her temples, deep in thought; while Jacen sat down on top of two plump pillows, feet dangling on air. They were both staring down seriously at their cards at hand.

"Do you think she trash-talks Jacen like she does to us?", Poe sniggered. Finn grabbed Poe's hands and dragged him to the spare seats. They greeted Jacen and high-fived a reluctant Rey.

Poe warmed up his hands together. "Alright, how are we today?", he grinned at Rey and Jacen. He sneaked a peek to Rey's cards at hand but she almost immediately flip it so they face the table. 

Poe snorted in disbelief. "Rey, I'm not gonna snitch your cards to Jacen,  _ kriffing's _ sake.", he rolled his eyes.

Finn mumbled, "Yes you would.". 

Poe didn't hear him. 

Rey cleared her throat. She began, "So, the Ghost. Is it true that it has two Proton torpedo launchers?", she asked Jacen out of curiosity.

Jacen nodded. " **And** a Taim & Bak MS-2B twin laser cannon." 

"The Ghost?", asked a puzzled Finn. 

"The Ghost is a modified VCX-100 light freighter," said Jacen and Poe at the same time. They looked at each other and laughed. 

Rey cooed, "That. Is the single most adorable thing I've ever witnessed", Finn nodded eagerly, stars in his eyes while staring at Poe.

"- And it has over eighty-seven illegal upgrades to the stealth system," added Jacen proudly. 

Rey whistled, "You and Rose could be best friends!", she said all impressed.

Then, after quite a long stalemate, Poe gestured wildly with his hands, "Why don't you guys, like,  **use the force** to, um, read each other's minds?", 

Rey, Jacen, and Finn all looked around at him like he was a space slug. 

"-What?", Poe asked naively at their murderous looks.

"That's not how the Force works!", they all answered at the same time.

Poe raised his arms in surrender. "Alright, alright, sorry.", he changed the topic, "Hey Jacen, where did you learn to play Sabacc?", Poe asked, now lounging lazily on his chair.

"Uncle Zeb.", Jacen answered simply as he drew a card.

Poe looked surprised. "Zeb Orellios?"

Jacen looked up at Poe, his eyes widen, "Yes, he's part of the Ghost Crew. Do you know him, Poe?"

Poe reminiscences fondly. "He was a legend back in the academy. We used to refer to stormtroopers as  **bucket heads** because of him-". Poe stopped when he realized Finn froze in his direction. Finn folds his arms, definitely unimpressed. "Wait- I don't mean  _ you _ , babe", Poe blurted out.

Finn still eyed him suspiciously. Poe mumbled "I will  **never** call you a bucket head. If anything, I'm the bucket head! You still love me right?"

Finn icily answered, "You know what Stormtroopers used to call rebel pilots? Laserbrains."

Rey snorted, definitely unbothered by this interaction. "Well in Jakku we called both as simple as  _ 'dumbasses' _ ."

Jacen was the only one who laughed.

* * *

In the end, Rey won by a small margin. Poe congratulated Jacen on his efforts with a pat on the head. Jacen kept yawning near the end of the game, which made them suspect it's his nap time. 

They paraded to accompany Jacen to bed. The Falcon has a spare room available, a small one with a bunk bed facing the wall. Thankfully they already cleaned this room the day before, even went as far as placing Hai-ka flower to freshen up the scent.

Again, Rey used the Force to lift Hera's giant bag inside. They were nervous when Jacen asked them to close the door while he goes change. They were impressed that not only Jacen managed to change clothes to his pajamas, he also fold the used ones by himself.

After Jacen was tucked to bed, he called out Poe's name. Poe who was prepared to turn off the light was surprised to be singled out. 

"Poe? Did Mum packed my  _ toy-Uncle Zeb _ ?"

Finn stared at Poe, puzzled. Poe was confused for a minute before he remembered the toy Lasat he found earlier inside Hera's bag. He went inside the room again and rummaged Hera's bag on the floor.

Poe found the doll in the bottom of the bag. In his defense, he had never met Zeb Orrelios so he didn't know what he looked like. He then handed it to Jacen who immediately pat the doll and hugged it tight. 

Poe thinks it's adorable. He squeezed Jacen's shoulder fondly before he walked towards the door.

"Did Zeb Orrelios made you this, Jacen?", Rey called out from the door.

Jacen nodded excitedly. His toy Zeb fell on the floor.

Finn lazily raised his arms and used the Force to direct the toy back at Jacen. Even from the dark, they can see how Jacen looked at Finn with stars in his eyes. Rey has a similar look in her eyes but from the pride of being Finn's teacher.

"Ok, hold your Banthas, I still have loads to learn.", Finn shrugged. 

* * *

They all decided to call it a day. Once Finn and Poe are tucked down in their room, lights were out, BB-8 recharging by the power socket, Finn called to Poe in a whisper. 

"Hey, Poe?"

Poe gave a peck between Finn's shoulder blades. "Yes, buddy?"

Finn hesitated as if he chose his words carefully, "Do you think we should get our own ship?"

Poe did not expect that question. He could hardly hide his giddiness and felt his voice cracking, "Our own ship, huh? Do ya think we're ready for that?".

Ok, Poe's just testing the waters alright. He only wanted to hear it from Finn's mouth. To his surprise, Finn turned around in his little spoon and circled his arms around Poe's neck. "Yeah, it would be fun. We won't have to worry someone walk in on us, you could decorate it all you want. Orange... White and- leather... jackets-"

Poe felt his smile only grew wider. "Leather jackets, huh? Sure, buddy.".

Finn smiled back. Poe thinks he would never get over how beautiful Finn looked at that moment.  _ Force's sake _ , he really needs to invest in either camera or painting equipment soon.

"Well, every decent ship has a name. What do you want to call  _ ours _ ?", Poe teased. The thought of owning a ship together with Finn is too good to be true.

Finn pretended to concentrate hard. He pursed his lips and then bit them, obviously with a full realization on what this does to Poe. 

"Hm, what about 'Bucket head'?", he grinned.

Poe laughed, "if you want- Bucket Head is fine". He kissed Finn's palms.

Finn grinned. He added, "And maybe we'll call the next one Laserbrains."

Poe pretended to look offended but Finn kissed his pursed lips away.

They totally forgot that BB8 was in the room, they only remembered because he beeped sadly at the thought of them buying two new machines together.

"Of course BB8, you're still our first droid baby!", Poe announced from the bed. Finn laughed. Poe kissed his shoulder blade.

"Poe, once we got our own ship, you would accompany me to search for kyber crystals, would you?", asked Finn quietly.

Poe mumbled sleepily. "Of course buddy, you and me against the world.", and he pecked Finn's cheek and merely cuddle him closer.

  
  
  


**Author's Note:**

> Check out my finnpoe playlist on spotify! xx
> 
> https://open.spotify.com/playlist/03tpk8WREyoCSWbncohJb6


End file.
